Today I have this question/discussion topic and an idea to share with you.
Saturday Question #90:
How Far in Advance Do You Plan What to Wear?
When do you decide what you are going to wear? On the day? The night before? What about perfumes for occasions (birthdays, family gatherings, etc.)?
Do you ever plan your perfume wardrobe several days in advance, for several days? (Trips don’t count!)
My Answer
I used to lie in bed the night before, mentally going through my whole collection (year, there were times when I could do that) and deciding on what perfume I’d use in the morning. As my collection grew, I switched to the stare-at-my-collection-in-the-morning method, which worked for a while but became less reliable once my perfumes filled in the shelves so that those boxes that are stored farther from the front are harder not only to get to but also to see. But better or worse, it still worked: I had to make a choice before leaving the house.
Then I started working from home, and my schedule changed so that I would have my meetings earlier than I would like to, so more and more often I would go commando (perfume-wise) for a couple of hours in the morning planning to figure out what to wear later… and more and more often my work takes over, and I keep going scent-free for the most of the day. And then I have to decide whether I want to apply perfume to wear or would rather test something new.
So, I just decided to make it easier for me this holidays season: I will make an Advent Calendar with 24 perfumes to wear in December. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll do daily or weekly posts: it might be too hard in addition to doing my planned countdown to Rusty’s birthday on Instagram, but I might still try.
Will you join me? I’m sharing this idea in advance – so that you have enough time to make your own calendar. You can do it from really simple to extremely fancy. 24 envelopes with written numbers, optionally decorated. Or Ziploc bags with decants/samples wrapped in some colorful tissue paper. Or one of those DIY sets from a craft store or Amazon. If you do not have a smaller decant or sample for the perfume you plan to wear, you can write down the name and put it into the bag or box. Alternatively, you can choose 24 samples that you want to try (again) and place them in random order into those bags – so, it’ll be kind of a surprise.
Undina's Looking Glass 
Hey Undina,
This sounds like all sorts of fun and I love the idea of a surprise advent calendar.
I try and decide on perfumes. About 50% of the time I have made early decisions I wear them. Other times I get sidetracked by something else shiny and close at hand. It’s a crap shoot.
One day I’d like to join you in a month of waring a note. That I could probably do, maybe. A week definitely.
How about I join you for the week of Xmas? I’ll wear all my favourite Xmas inspired perfumes.
Portia xx
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Portia, you and Undina and others should join one of my May Marathons and do one on your own sites! As you know, I’ve done a couple of May Muguet Marathons; a Roses de Mai Marathon; and a May Melange Marathon. I’m thinking of doing another Roses de Mai one, as there are so many wonderful rose-based fragrances of all kinds (one could post daily just about Parfums de Rosine, lol) but I’m open to suggestions.
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OOOHHH! That might be a world of fun OH.
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We did a month of irises and a month of roses in February. Let’s do a month (or a week?) of mimosa in March (and then join OH in May for her marathon).
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HA! I reckon I could do three days of Mimosa Undina, if I’m lucky.
Open to doing something, I might even get some Mimosa samples if we do it.
Yes, let’s join OH too. That will be fun.
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Fun question. The only time that I obsess over what I wear is if I am going to a function, dinner party, etc. For the day to day, it’s whatever strikes my mood. As such, there are some poor outliers in my collection that never see the light of day. Kisses to Rusty.
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You’re giving me more ideas for future projects! :)
After reading your comment, I published another Rusty picture on IG.
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I hardly ever plan on what to wear. Occasionally for an event I might. Usually it’s a case of stare-at-my-collection-in-the-morning (to quote you😉) and as you also said, it’s hard to see things at a glance. So, quite a lot of time spent staring. The idea of making advent calendar doesn’t appeal. This year I won’t have the time as I may be packing up my house to move, fingers crossed that sale goes through without any hitches.
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Moving during holidays! I wish it goes smoothly.
Are you moving far from where you currently live?
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If all goes to plan it will be January before we’re moving. And we don’t have anywhere to move to yet🙈 We will be renting while we finish our other house. The problem is a shocking scarcity of properties so rent.
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It should be very stressful, please take a good care of yourself. I hope, you’ll get through the exercise with limited setbacks and will be able soon to look back at it and enjoy the results.
Will you be able to move your perfumes yourself?
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Thank you. I’ll rise to the challenges. And of course I’ll be moving my perfume myself. I wouldn’t let anyone else touch it😂 It’s precious cargo. And though most of our furniture might end up in storage, perfume will be coming with me, can’t abandon it.
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I’m now retired so no longer have the pre work scent dilemma. That does mean I often scent in the afternoon so just one scent a day most days.
I have a box of things I’m trying to finish, samples, fb & decant dregs. I try to grab something from that box but on occasion I have something in my olfactory imagination I have to wear.
Sometimes I join in with the Basenotes synchs as they give me inspiration to shop my preciouses
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I use NST community projects from time to time to choose what to wear on Friday (though, I rarely can participate in the thread: by the time I get there, most of the participants are done for the day.
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An old friend from my home town started getting into perfume, possibly due to my influence and one year instead of just popping samples into an envelope I realized I had enough for an advent. I wrapped and labeled them. And she really enjoyed it.
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What a perfect idea to introduce new perfumes to a friend!
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Yes to Advent calendars!! And yes, let’s try to blog them! I just got a package of samples and small decants from the wonderful hajusuuri, so I’ll probably use those to keep the element of surprise. If I feel VERY crafty between now and Dec. 1, I’ll decorate a plain wooden Advent calendar I bought a while ago for this purpose. It has some boxes that are big enough to hold a cute mini. I have a ready-made refillable wooden Advent calendar that could hold samples. I may just use the package as a grab-bag, and drop the samples in without looking. There are also cute “Advent” strings of little stockings with numbers on them that would suit the purpose too.
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I will buy one of the DIY calendars and fill it with my perfumes, but I know that I won’t have enough time to be too crafty – so, I need something that is easy to do: selecting perfumes will be an undertaking on its own! :)
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Re planning ahead — I rarely plan ahead, and then usually to get on the Friday theme on the Now Smell This blog, which is fun. I’m of the “stare at a shelf” school of thought, unless I’ve recently read about a fragrance on a favorite blog, or in a book and want to test it or revisit it; if I know or think I have it, I’ll go on a hunt. My collection is long overdue for reorganization — maybe I’ll get to that over the winter break.
I have a similar timing issue with fragrance when I’m working from home, though I’ve also been able to try out some bolder fragrances during the day that I might not wear to my office. Prime example: Kenzo’s Jungle L’Elephant!
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NST helps me from time to time as well, but I usually participate just for a day, maybe two: it’s too restrictive for me to follow the theme for a week (unless it’s my theme, then, as we know, I can do the whole month :) ).
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Sometimes I have an idea the night before or in the morning, but that can change at any moment once I enter the perfume closet, I can be drawn to something else depending on mood, weather, activities planned.
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Sometimes I plan the night before – and for the life of me can’t remember what it was in the morning :)
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I think I’ll join you on the Advent Calendar – I think I kept the box from the one I bought a couple of years ago. I already have my Friday Favorites plotted for the rest of the year, but selecting the rest I advance will save me the ten minutes in the morning-spreadsheet review-staring at my collection process. I expect that once I complete my 365 project, I will be heavily wearing the ones I enjoyed the most for a few months. I may also attempt a declutter – I definitely discovered some perfumes that can be passed on, and I have a ton of samples that will go out the door.
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Perfect! You also can do a bunch of pictures at once – it will also save you some processing time (though maybe you do that already, otherwise I’m even more impressed with your current project :) ).
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I decide as I reach for the bottle to apply something. For me, it is based on my mood at that moment and what attracts me. I feel, for me, this is almost like picking out a pet or baby name. I can’t name an animal before I meet it. Usually, it speaks to me and tells me its name. I just feel a sense of what it should be. I just met a tiny kitten recently and called him Toby. The shelter named him Taco. Which would you prefer to be named? LOL
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I prefer Toby! Is he going home with you?
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Well… I think we need to see a picture of your kitty to tell you whether he’s Taco or Toby ;) Yeah, definitely need a picture.
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When I was working I would lay out my clothes and jewelry the night before each workday and I would also choose a perfume and place it next to the clothes. Since I’m no longer working, I tend to live in tee shirts and yoga pants at home, so no need to plan outfits. I do dress appropriately when I leave the house, though. I will choose perfumes the night before if I’m going out for any reason. If I’m at home, it’s whatever strikes me at the moment. I rotate my fragrances by season and I’m now going through the spices, ambers and what we used to call ‘orientals’ for the fall and winter season. I have a hard time choosing between the L’Arts et Matieres Guerlains usually, though. I want to wear them all every day! Today it’s Parfum de Rosines Ballerina #3, which I adore. It’s the moodier, woody, spicy “Black Swan” scent in the Ballerina series. I love it more each time I wear it.
I have a lot of samples to try so I’m also going to have a DIY Advent calendar this year. I have ZERO crafting skills. I’ve burned myself a number of times with a glue gun (LOL) so I’m just going to keep the samples in a bag and close my eyes and choose one each day. I just got my bag of samples for ScentExplore and there are at least 25 in there, so it’s perfect. I’ll even force myself to test the oud fragrances. I’m looking forward to seeing what is in everyone’s Advent Calendars.
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I tend to be more spontaneous in choosing a scent for the day. Ballerina #3 is also my favorite from that series. My bag from ScentXplore is also waiting for me as soon as I get home tonight – so exciting!
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Since there are at least two people that I “know” who bought that event early enough to get samples, I hope to learn at some point what I missed :)
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I’m extremely curious about ScentExplore samples: I didn’t know about that event before the tickets with samples were gone. So, now I want to at least find out what I missed :)
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I was an early bird registrant so my bag included some of last year’s samples as well as this year’s, although I don’t know which are which. Here goes:
Scents of Wood (L’Âme du Bois) – scented mini pine cones
Agatho – Castiamanti
Amouage – Honour Woman, Reflection Man, Interlude Man, Epic Woman
Atelier des Ors – Choeur des Anges
Bois 1920 – Real Patchouly
Christian Provenzano – Oud Signature
Electimuss London – Vixere
Élisire – Ambre Nomade
Escentric Molecules – Escentric 04
Fragrance du Bois – New York 5th Avenue
Ignacio Figueras – Aspen
JCB – No. 8 Antoinette
Kierin NYC – Pier NY
M. Micallef – DésirToxic
Masque Milano – Dolceacqua, Ray-flection
Milano Fragranze – Naviglio
Olfactive Studio – Flash Back in New York
Perfumer’s Workshop – Wet Stone, Sunset Oud
Plume Impression – Élégance Cuirée
Precious Liquid – Vanilla Orchid, Mandarine, Tobacco Royal, Amber Suede, Salt & Pepper, Champaca
Vilhelm Parfumerie – Room Service
Zoologist – Seahorse
And a cluster of 10 branded smelling strips!
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Mine were pretty much with the same except that I had a Micallef Ananda and an Olfactive Studio Deep woods sample instead of the ones you mentioned. I couldn’t resist sniffing them so I had to change my advent calendar to scents from my own collection. LOL That Zoologist Seahorse sample is challenging!! I do not like ocean funk scents and that one is wetter and funkier than even Zoologist Bat. So far I’ve liked Hummingbird, Dragonfly, Bee and Chipmunk from Zoologist and have not been fond of the rest of the zoo members.
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Lol thanks for the warning! I haven’t smelled most of the Zoologist ones but I had a sample of Dodo before and it was challenging too. Feather note…
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I also think that (unless we’re talking about this or any other themed project) you shouldn’t resist wearing what you want, even if it’s the same set of perfumes: our fancies are passing, and you might discover that a couple of years from now you won’t love one of those Guerlains as much as you do today – and that will be a pity that you “wasted” now on wearing perfumes just for the rotation purposes when you could have enjoyed you then/favorites.
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I usually fly by the seat of my pants..no planning. I’ve made advent packages with perfume, tea and sweets for many years now so I love your idea Undina. I certainly have 25 full bottles so I can participate.
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Forgot to say the advent packages were for perfume pals and not me.
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I think this will be a very unusual project for you since you often wear the same perfume for days. Please join us! :)
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Hahaha. This is true!! But I will most definitely join in!!
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I’ve learned over the years to wait to make this choice. Sometimes I would have something in mind, get up, shower, make my selection of what to wear and what I had in mind just didn’t fit or I wasn’t feeling it. Once I’ve picked out what I’m going to wear, then my choice of fragrance follows. My mood drives my choice.
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When I was still leaving my house on a daily basis, sometimes I did pair my perfume and outfit, but even then it didn’t happen often: maybe because I don’t have enough variety of different types of either clothes or perfume? :)
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If I work from home, which is most days, I decide the morning of (usually, there are exceptions). When I am participating in the NST Community Challenge, I try to do it everyday if the work week so there’s some planning ahead. When I am in the office, I do choose my perfume at the latest by the evening before, but again, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions 😆.
I will participate in the advent calendar challenge by picking a random brand per day and then choose one perfume from that brand to wear. I haven’t yet thought about how to physically represent the calendar but that should be fun! In choosing the brands, I will highlight indie lines half the time. Also, I may swap out a day’s brand with another one from a pool of reserved brands. Whatever the case, I will not repeat brands throughout December.
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There are so many rules in our lives that do not allow exceptions that it is just a common sense not to surround something that we do for our own pleasure with even more of rigid rules. So, I’m with you on changing one’s mind whenever :)
On the other hand, I do like challenges from time to time. Love your idea of not repeating brands, and I will see if I could follow it for my project as well. I’m not sure yet but I’ll see once I start choosing my December perfumes.
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I must admit I have been forgetting to wear perfume at all some days, or been lazy and worn the same clothes and perfume for several days running. Even when I am more together, I rarely plan what I am wearing in advance unless I have a special occasion, and then only on the day as a rule. I don’t think I am organised enough at the moment to do a scented Advent calendar, but it sounds like a fun project!
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From time to time I was also “forced” to wear the same perfume because it was still on the clothes I wore before.
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Short answer – I don’t plan at all. Unless it’s a special occasion, then I think what I would like tpo wear. But everyday, no, just grab what feels right from the seasonal display.
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But at least you choose your seasonal display! :)
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In one way, I do plan, according to what I’m going to post on IG, but I also have several other fragrances in rotation, so a bit of a mix in the end, dear Undina.
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Instagram is a good reason to plan your perfumes in advance – if you want to combine your post/review with the SOTD report.
Love you IG pictures! You have such a great eye for composition!
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Many thanks, dear Undina!
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